Legendary Indian spinner and former head coach Anil Kumble has criticized the West Indies national cricket team for playing safe cricket against India in the high-pressure Super 8 encounter of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, March 1.
Windies made a great start against India in the do-or-die Super 8 match, but they could not take advantage of the set stage and were all out after scoring 195/4 in 20 overs. Later, the Men in Blue chased the target with ease thanks to Sanju Samson’s remarkable inning of 97*.
Anil Kumble criticizes West Indies for playing safe
With this heartbreaking defeat, the Caribbean country is out of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, with the Men in Blue joining England, New Zealand and South Africa in the semi-finals. After the match, Anil Kumble said that West Indies missed a big opportunity due to negative mentality.
Also read: Former Indian coach Abhishek Sharma burns after another poor innings
Windies posted a strong score of 195 runs on the board, but the veteran spinner believes they should have tried harder. He believes that in T20 cricket, teams should use every ball and every wicket. Kumble insisted that it was better to score 196/9 than 195/4, as even one extra run could change the match.
The former Indian head coach also highlighted how West Indies captain Shai Hope struggled to score runs freely during the powerplay, yet West Indies had all 10 wickets with 14 overs left, and could have gone after the Indian bowlers in the Super 8 game.
The opportunity was missed despite a bad day for India’s top bowlers
It was time for the Caribbean team to attack, but they played safe cricket and Kumble openly criticized the two-time champions for not taking that risk. Kumble also pointed out that India’s top bowlers were not at their best, but despite this, the West Indies batsmen did not take advantage of the opportunity.
Here is the video
Did West Indies play a little safe against India? #timeout pic.twitter.com/Sr94IKfop3
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) 2 March 2026
Anil Kumble said on ESPN Cricinfo: “Once you have 10 wickets in hand and some serious hitting power in your dugout even after 14 overs of the power play, you need to try harder. And even if you had lost a few wickets, India would not have been happy. Or if you look at the bowling scorecard, Bumrah gave away almost 40 runs. Then Varun Chakravarthy scored 40 runs. So, you got two Got 80 runs from the best bowlers. Yes, we batted well today.”
Anil Kumble says good batting is not enough to defeat India
The great spinner admitted that West Indies batted well, but it was not enough to defeat teams like India. Kumble said that his slow batting in the middle cost him a place in the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Kumble said, “But to win the World Cup or beat India, we have to win those little moments a little better in 35 out of 35 innings. Or the way he batted from 6 to 9, when there was a little strike rotation. Because there, the foundation was laid. So once again, he batted well. But to beat India, you have to do a little more.”
Also read: Sourav Ganguly praises Sanju Samson’s bravery against West Indies and targets Shubman Gill